LEANNE: Episodes 1.1-1.3

Name: LEANNE: Episodes 1.1-1.3
Item: LEANNE: Episodes 1.1-1.3
Author: Review

"Leanne Morgan’s Humorous and Heartfelt New Sitcom"

Family Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

LEANNE, a sitcom on Netflix, follows a woman who must pick up the pieces of her life after her husband of 33 years says he wants a divorce. With the help of her sister Carol, Leanne figures out how to deal with the emotional fallout, break the news to her parents, and possibly start dating again, entering a new chapter of her life.

The first three episodes of LEANNE are humorous and heartfelt, giving equal time to star Leanne Morgan’s comedic talents as well as the emotional storylines surrounding Leanne’s heartbreak at her divorce. The first three episodes have both a moral and a Christian worldview. They focus on Leanne’s strong family bonds, such as her sister’s and children’s support for her. The episodes include positive Christian references. For instance, Leanne and her sister working a bake sale at their church, Leanne discusses her grandson’s baptism, and the sisters pray together when their mother suffers a fall. The first three episodes of LEANNE gave two light obscenities and several light suggestive jokes, Otherwise, there’s no objectionable content. MOVIEGUDE® advises caution for older children.

Content:

(BB, CC, L, V, A, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong moral and Christian worldview where title character and her family are very close, they support her as she struggles to deal with her husband’s desire to separate and get a divorce, title character is shown to be a strong Christian, she and her sister in Episode 1.1 attend a bake sale at their church and say someone who died is “in the sweet arms of Jesus” and title character discusses her grandson’s baptism, and in Episode 1.2, title character and her sister pray on the way to the hospital after their mother takes a fall;

Foul Language:

Two obscenities and some bathroom humor;

Violence:

At the end of Episode 2, Leanne punches Bill in the face, but the scene cuts to black before she hits him;

Sex:

No sex scenes but several light suggestive jokes such as woman talks about her husband having a girlfriend and cheating on her before their divorce, and some jokes about woman striking up a new relationship in the wake of her divorce;

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

Some alcohol use in several scenes;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Title character, her sister and title characters children lie to grandparents for the first two episodes because they don’t want them to know about the parents splitting up, and the program features dysfunctional family dynamics where the husband wants a divorce, but the two children state their intention to side with their mother in the split.

More Detail:

LEANNE, streaming on Netflix, is a sitcom starring popular standup comedian Leanne Morgan who plays a woman struggling to rebuild her life after her husband’s shocking announcement that, after 33 years of marriage, he wants a divorce.

In Episode 1, Leanne is still reeling from an email from her husband, Bill, telling her he’s leaving her. Her sister, Carol, shows up to support her through this tough time, especially because Leanne doesn’t want anyone to know yet.

The sisters work hard to keep the news secret from their church congregation, as well as their parents, who love Bill. Leanne manages to keep the divorce under wraps, only telling her daughter, but is shocked when Bill shows up at the house.

He comes by to pick up some of his things. When Leanne confronts him about his desire to end their marriage, he tells her he’s been miserable. After he leaves, Carol comes to sleep over, supporting her sister through this time.

Episode 2 opens with a health scare for Leanne and Carol’s mother, whose Life Alert necklace goes off, letting them know she had a fall. They rush to the hospital, where a doctor tells them everything is fine. Margaret is just suffering from low blood pressure. Complicating matters, Bill shows up, wanting to support the family.

They take the grandmother back to Leanne’s house to keep an eye on her. However, Leanne, Carol, Bill, and the children, Josie and Tyler keep pretending Leanne and Bill are still together. The secret eventually gets out, which leads to Margaret collapsing again.

Episode 3 sees Carol encouraging Leanne to get back out into the dating world. She helps Leanne choose an outfit, and the pair go to a bar. They chat up some men, and Leanne is starting to get comfortable with the idea of dating again, but her efforts to connect with a new guy ultimately fail.

Before she can get too upset over that, Leanne receives a phone call, Her father and Bill have gotten into a fender-bender, and she needs to pick them up from the police station. Leanne’s dad, John, had wanted to talk to Bill about his decision to leave Leanne, sharing his previous marital struggles.

At the station, Leanne and Carol pick up their father, and Leanne lets Bill know she’s started dating again. The sisters decide to leave Bill to find a ride home.

So far, LEANNE is a sweet, funny sitcom. It showcases Leanne Morgan’s comedy chops, alongside a strong supporting cast featuring Kristen Johnston, Ryan Stiles, Celia Weston, and Blake Clark. The show balances humor and emotional depth well, giving equal time to Morgan’s jokes and the deep sadness her character feels about her marriage ending.

The first three episodes of LEANNE have both a moral and a Christian worldview. The episodes focus on Leanne’s strong family bonds, such as her sister’s and children’s support for her following news of the divorce. There are also mentions of several Christian elements, such as Leanne and Carol working a bake sale at their church, Leanne discussing her grandson’s baptism, and the sisters praying together after their mother’s fall. There are two instances of foul language and several suggestive jokes, as well as scenes featuring alcohol. Otherwise, however, there is no objectionable content.

LEANNE is off to a good start, but MOVIEGUIDE® can’t say yet whether this new sitcom will measure up to the standards of other recent sitcoms with occasional positive Christian references, such as LAST MAN STANDING. So far, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.